Lacking Respect?

March 25, 2009|By JOHN PECK, Salisbury-Elk Lick

“Men are respectable, only as long as they respect.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

A growing concern in today’s education system is the lack of respect that students have for their instructors. A major quality among the student body that shows a lack of respect is backtalk. Our society has encouraged independence and sadly, rebellion through the use of advertisements, television shows and media. The influences that teenagers must deal with everyday force a sense of “big-headedness” on today’s youth. We feel that we have something to say, and therefore let it out. Our newfound sense of independence makes us feel the need to be right at all times, causing us to defend our points of view with every ounce of strength.

Many people stereotypically blame the lack of respect on the assumption that all teenagers hate school. They believe that teens have no interest in their studies and therefore feel no need to give any attention to their instructors. Unfortunately this is somewhat true. There are students that simply do not enjoy school and can think of nothing but being rid of the burdens that accompany it; however, I still do not find this to be the main reason for the lacking respect in our schools.

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Through the teenage years, students label people into two categories: People that they like, and people that they do not like. This rule applies not only to peers, but parents and teachers as well. If a teen does not like someone, the chances are likely that they will have a bad attitude towards that person, as well as the things that they say. While this is a rather immature way of handling things, it comes to teenagers as an instinct. During the process of growing, we fail to realize when it is smart to make our voices heard, and when it is wise to shut up.

The student is not always wrong. Sometimes teens think of their instructors negatively, but with good reason. Occasionally, a teacher may say something deemed as “unprofessional” in front of their students. Whether that teacher is simply having a bad day or is deliberating with co-workers, they must maintain composure in the classroom. The students should not have to get involved with problems in the workplace. When a student finds out about issues such as these, their opinion of the instructors involved plummets. It is one thing for teachers to have problems at work, but they should be careful to not mention these to their students.

I believe that issues like this have played a key role in the falling respect levels among school students. It is true that this is not the entire problem, but it certainly is not helping. Society must learn to not be so eager to blame the students and to consider their reasoning for being disrespectful. Occasionally instructors must be humble and ask, “Have I done something to cause the problem?” This will not make all of the problems disappear, but it is a start to understanding the people that we interact with all the time.